Local Government Finance

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the income of each district to sustain a common level of services throughout Wales on the basis of his assumed figures for community charge payments in each district.

The standard spending assessment for each county and district council is calculated on the basis of formulae which have been agreed by the Welsh local authority associations. It represents a measure of the cost of providing a standard level of service, taking into account the characteristics of each area. If every authority were to spend at the level of its standard spending assessment, the community charge in the area of each charging authority in Wales, after taking account of revenue support grant entitlements and income from non-domestic rates, would be £173—the community charge for standard spending.